Virginia Wedding Photographer | Katelyn James Photography » Photographyhttp://katelynjamesblog.com
Virginia Wedding Photographer + Destination Wedding PhotographyTue, 31 Mar 2015 13:36:18 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Leather Craftsmenhttp://katelynjamesblog.com/leather-craftsmen-parent-album/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/leather-craftsmen-parent-album/#commentsMon, 16 Feb 2015 17:00:30 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=105043 As soon as these babies came in the mail I felt like my sister's wedding planning was officially over! We ordered Joe and Emily's 10x10 album from our album provider and it was stunning!! We use the 3500 Series albums from Leather Craftsmen and we love them!! I wanted to share some of my sister's new wedding album AND my mom's parent album because Leather Craftsmen is offering 20% OFF of any CLONE parent albums!! If you're a photographer and you offer high end albums, you know that this is a HUGE help! Genuine leather albums are not cheap! ]]>We love Leather Craftmen’s products for several reasons! We love their quality, their corners, their covers and their printing color! We also LOVE that you can have the edges GILDED. This keeps the edges of the pages from peeling up and getting dirty and bent after years of use. It’s an awesome additional touch!

Here are the specs for the albums you see below in this posts:

10×10 and 8×8 3500 Series Leather Album

“Folded” (not split) pages. This means the images go across the spine!

Cover inset photo (optically centered)

Designer Leather Cedar for cover material

Spine title printed

All caps title

Black gilded edges

Enjoy viewing these newest additions to our family’s album collection! If you have ANY additional information, email IRA at Leather Craftsmen: ira@leathercraftsmen.com

]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/leather-craftsmen-parent-album/feed/12Rebranding in Two Monthshttp://katelynjamesblog.com/secrets-to-a-quick-rebrand/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/secrets-to-a-quick-rebrand/#commentsFri, 30 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=64162 You read that right... it took us two months to create all of this!! The new branding, the new website, the new blog.... everything. I wrote a blog post the recapped our rebrand experience and realized that there is actually SO much that you could learn not from me but from my DESIGNER! Jen has so much wisdom when it comes to how to make your branding experience a huge success and so I'm honored to have her on the blog today as a guest.... even though she CREATED it... so she's not really a guest! :) Enjoy her perspective and our secrets to a fast, efficient rebrand prcoess! :]]>It really only hit me when I saw Katelyn’s recap post teaser on Twitter.

“Wow,” I thought to myself. Two months?! Was it really that fast? Didn’t Christmas happen like a month ago? Oh gosh, my thank you notes…”

And then – after a moment of “I’m an ungrateful WRETCH!” reflection – it actually set in. “Wait, how in the WORLD did we get all of this done in just two months?!”

A two month rebrand, website and blog design overhaul is, to put it lightly, not the norm. I’m sure most of you have heard horror stories of stalled projects, difficult designers, and multi-year, multi-tear-inducing rebrands that end up with sighs of resigned, “At least it’s done?” acceptance, not “Finally, the whole world will know exactly who I am!” rejoicing.

And while some projects actually REQUIRE months of time, planning, and development (hold off on that “JEN SAID TWO MONTHS!” email to your designer), Katelyn’s unicorn of a rebrand process can teach us a few things about moving forward on a smooth, satisfying design fast track.

So, how did she do it? Well, she’s Katelyn “Edits a wedding in the same time it takes you to unload the dishwasher” James, so that doesn’t hurt. But beyond that…

1. SHE WAITED : As Katelyn mentioned in her post, she’d never been branded by a designer until now. She didn’t start her business in 2008, then rush to a designer a few weeks later to invest thousands of dollars into a brand she’d barely begun to understand.

As a designer, I get countless inquiries from new photographers who want to invest in a brand and website that showcases their work. They’ve been taught by industry professionals that their livelihood is dependent on differentiating themselves from the pack, so they want the best logo design money can buy.

I realize this doesn’t sound like a bad situation from my perspective (hey, they want to pay me, right?), but here’s the issue: when you’ve not yet occupied your own brand, it’s nearly impossible for a designer to do it for you.

Because Katelyn has had well over 6 years of defining, exploring and refining her brand, business and online presence, when it came time to “rebrand” / redesign her, we were simply tasked with elevating and restating values she’d spent years presenting… even if they weren’t presented quite as well or as clearly as they are now. Since we knew what Katelyn James was all about, we could easily determine what felt true to her brand (at its best) and what did not.

Before you invest in a designer, consider whether you’ve reached a point where you feel confident about what your brand’s values are and how they should be presented. No matter how great a designer might be, they can’t “give” you a brand; they can only give you the design to back it up. And when you approach the design process before you’re ready, you risk investing thousands of dollars in branding that you’ll have nearly outgrown by the time it’s complete. And bam, NIGHTMARE DESIGN PROCESS. Continual rebranding. Lots of “Didn’t you change your logo last year?”

So, until you’ve reached a point in your business where you know – or are at least starting to know – your brand, your target audience, and how you want your target audience to view you, here’s my advice:

Keep it simple. Isolate the things that people associate with you and your business, and focus on those. (You’ll note that we didn’t get rid of Katelyn’s signature teal – there would have been riots in the streets!) Determine your brand’s qualities; think about the kind of decisions it would make, the kinds of people it wants to work with, the places it might shop…and maybe even if it might live in your foyer. :) Instead of investing in custom website from the get go, maybe you start off with a simple logo design and a customizable site (TONIC can help you with that!) . Many of the most successful photographers have incredibly basic logo and website design, but their “brand” – and, of course, their work – speaks volumes. Start there. By the time your brand can walk and talk on it’s own, it’ll be much easier to design it something new to wear.

2. SHE FOCUSED. When it came time for us to begin our design process – she’d booked me well before our “two month” time slot – Katelyn was ON it. She did her homework, she accumulated her content, she responded to my ideas, she suggested changes, and she made it clear that our project was a priority with a specific goal in sight. On one Friday in November, after about 5 hours, 20 emails and a few texts back and forth, we’d designed her homepage. Because I was able to get feedback, then refine, get more feedback, then refine… part of the process that can take weeks – or longer! – was exponentially expedited. She was on the ball; I stayed in the zone; choose your own sports analogy for “winning’ here.

(Note: Katelyn also set aside time in her schedule to come to my house so we could knock out much of the design together, in person, which was HUGE (and also a blast). If your designer doesn’t offer that kind of service or if distance doesn’t allow it, it doesn’t hurt to ask if you can schedule a “design intensive” via Skype, or even via email over the course of a few days!)

Often, the design process gets mired down in endless emails, obsessive deliberation, a busy shooting season, or “the rebrand overwhelm” (which is totally at thing!). If you can’t invest both finances AND focus in your project, it’s best to wait until you can. If you feel like you’re getting stuck, let your designer know so you can work out the best way to move forward. The more you prioritize the project, the faster your designer can deliver.

3. SHE TRUSTED. If you’re a photographer, you understand how empowering it is to have a client who says, “I trust your vision; I hired you to capture my day, and I can’t wait to see it through your eyes.” No endless shot lists or specific Pinterest all-stars to recreate… just the freedom to create.

Despite the fact that Katelyn comes from a design background – which makes it extra tough! – she made it very clear that after a long time spent reviewing my work (years, actually!), she was sure I could create something that both represented and elevated her brand. Because of that surety, she trusted me to design FOR her, not to design THROUGH her. She didn’t have set boundaries in place or twenty specific “shot list” guidelines for me to follow. Instead, we discussed the vision for the project, her hopes for where the eventual result might land, and (with her help!) I was able to execute something that fulfilled all the requirements, plus a few she didn’t even know she had (like the finished site resembling her foyer!).

Before you hire a designer, first take a critical look at their portfolio and make sure you can trust them to design something that aligns with your vision. There are lots of GREAT designers with fantastic portfolios who you, personally should never hire. If you’ve hired the right one (congratulations!), communicate your overall vision – along with any non-negotiable specifics – as best you can. Then, step aside a bit! I can’t tell you how many time I’ve had a client say, “I could never have come up with something that fits me this well!” and how rarely I’ve had one say, “Boy, I’m so glad I paid you a lot of money to follow my paint-by-numbers instructions!”

I told Katelyn that she was a total dream client, and that wasn’t just the post-launch-high (which is also totally a thing!) talking. She was appreciative, communicative, flexible, decisive, and motivated. She didn’t hand her project to me; she took it on with me. And if you’ve been around here for a while, you KNOW she has great taste. But the three primary points above are what gave us – and you, we hope! – the freedom to get things done well and get them done fast – In two months, no less.

After reading that from Jen, if you don’t already love her and want to be one of her besties, you’re not human. :) But seriously, if this was helpful or inspirational or educational, leave her some love! I’m so thankful for not only her time, talent and expertise on my project, but I’m also so grateful that she took the time to share these tips with our blog community!

]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/secrets-to-a-quick-rebrand/feed/11What You Can Expecthttp://katelynjamesblog.com/blogging-what-you-can-expect/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/blogging-what-you-can-expect/#commentsThu, 29 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=64138 So! Some of you may have noticed that I've been blogging everyday this week. "Is she back to her old ways" you may ask? Well, yes! .... Kinda... but not really. You see, taking a break from blogging was one of the greatest things I could have done for myself personally and for my business. Sometimes when you're "in" something too long, you lose track of what it really looks like to other people. I think I had definitely gotten to that place with my blog. Somedays I just blogged to "blog".... and that's never what I intended for of our online presence! ]]>The break from blogging taught me several things. I realized that I didn’t want to go back to blogging 5 days a week just because that was what I had always done and that was what people expected of me. Instead, I decided to create a list of things I wanted for my blog…. almost like a “mission statement” if you will. I want to clearly define the purpose of my blog and so here are some of my thoughts:

Before anything else, this platform is a gift from God and I want to make sure I’m constantly letting Him use it however He wants! That’s the #1 takeaway from my break!

One of the main purposes of my blog is to build community in the following areas:

Build up a community of photographers through education & inspiration!

Build a community for past, present and future KJ brides through bridal education posts and sharing their weddings and engagements!

Build a community for those that enjoy hosting and are inspired by home styling & decor! (more on this topic later)

My posts should always do one of the following things:

Inspire

Educate

Share life enhancing content

Entertain

So what can you expect from here on out?! There are several key things that I want our readers to know about our blog moving forward!! :

You can expect anywhere from 3-5 posts per week! Yay!!! Consistency and content are the keys to having a successful blog. So, promising 3-5 posts a week allows me to blog all of my shoots and educational content during our busy spells but also allows me to take 2 days off as needed! Which is so freeing!!! YAY for running your own business and making executive decisions that give you part of your life back! :)

You can expect to see a shift in our home decor / styling / inspiration posts. I LOVE sharing about my love for decorating. It’s my creative outlet outside of photography and I love it! However, we’ve been thinking a lot of how this passion of mine doesn’t stem just from the “pretty” aspect of decorating… there’s more to it than that! A lot more actually. So be on the lookout for a little shift in that area!

You can expect to hear from Michael more! At least once monthly!! He’s agreed to help me in the blogging work and I’m so thankful because I know he has so much that he could share! He’ll mainly be focusing on answering business questions, doing some second shooter education and sharing some about how we handle finances and are trying to be good stewards of what we’ve been given.

So! Isn’t that all exciting?!! I feel like the blog has a renewed purpose and clear trajectory moving forward this year. There are several exciting things that we’ll be sharing in the next fews months in regards to our The Collection and our new approach to sharing about home decor, but for now, continue enjoying this shiny new blog and be on the lookout for some new features! We are actually STILL tweaking the blog and making sure old posts are loading and text isn’t cut off and so bare with us!! But eventually, we’ll have some shiny new features to share!! :) If you have something that you LOVE about our new blog and new look, let us know!! Comments are community builders!!!! We love hearing from you!!!

]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/blogging-what-you-can-expect/feed/24It’s Launch Dayhttp://katelynjamesblog.com/launch-day/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/launch-day/#commentsThu, 22 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=61643 Today is the DAY! We made it!! After a long week of prep and the hard work of Jen Olmstead and Flosites have made it happen! In case you haven't noticed from my instagrams this week, this isn't an easy task. Re-launching your entire online presence is no joke! We are thrilled that it's done and we're so thankful for all of the amazing people that make it happen! I'm going to go ahead and thank them right now because they deserve an insane about of recognition and praise!!]]>- Michael : I’m sorry I’m not the nicest person in the world when I’m stressed. Thank you for your patience, support and opinions that are focused on functionality and not just the “pretty”. Jen and I appreciate your input!

- Jen : Man oh man! What a journey! You are one insanely talented woman! I knew years and years ago that it was going to be my goal to work with you one day. It’s kind of surreal that that actually happened and I now have a Jen Olmstead masterpiece of my own! Your eye, patience, positivity and vision are exactly what I needed. I had no idea just how much I needed help with this stuff until we started getting into the nitty gritty of the design. You amaze me with your ideas and ability to work your magic to fix ANY issue. I’m seriously SO in love with everything and I have you to thank!!! You are my dream designer and you went above and beyond what I could have even hoped for! Michael and I are SO thankful for your time, our design overnight and your commitment to making this PERFECT!

- Flosites : Whew! We go way back!! My first REAL blog was created by you guys and I can’t believe how long it has been! I believe this is Blog #3?! I’m so thankful for your continued excitement to work alongside of us.

- Tyler Herrinton : This guy. He puts up with my last minute video dreams and always makes them happen! We’re so thankful you’re in our life, Ty!! You made this new brand extra special and we’re SO grateful for your time!!

Now on to the PRETTY stuff!!! We not only have a beautiful blog for you to explore, we have an AWESOME new WEBSITE!!!!! There’s so much to see! Take a few minutes and look around HERE!! I’ll be doing a little post soon about what inspired our new look but it’s not really hard to figure that out…. I mean, has anyone seen my FOYER?! Dead giveaway. :)

Speaking of GIVEAWAYS!!!!!!!! We are not only announcing our NEW LOOK…. we’re announcing the BIGGEST GIVEAWAY of OUR CAREER!!!!!! Watch below to find out what it is!!!

I know, we can’t believe it either!!!!! This giveaway is unlike ANYTHING we’ve ever done before and we’re BEYOND excited to be partnering with the following amazing wedding professionals to create “A Wedding Collective Giveaway”!!! :

So know it’s time to not only share your favorite parts of the NEW brand, it’s also time to tell all of your engaged friends that they need to enter to win a WEDDING OF THEIR DREAMS!!!! Valued over $30,000!!!!! ah!!! Entries are being accepted NOW through FEB 2nd! You can enter the competition HERE!!!!

** A HUGE thanks to two of our best friends and favorite “big dreamers”, Bud and Jill. We are so thankful for your friendship and BIG ideas! So excited to see this one come to life!!! **

]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/launch-day/feed/66Tomorrow is the BIG day!http://katelynjamesblog.com/tomorrow/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/tomorrow/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=61642 Tomorrow is the BIG day! We've been in business for almost 7 years and tomorrow will be the FIRST TIME that I'll have professional branding! Sure, I have a design background and what I have had in the past hasn't been BAD by any means. However, there's just something so awesome about having someone BRAND you and I honestly can't WAIT to show you what we've been up to! This past week has included a ton of early mornings and late nights. I'm getting a massage next week because my back hurts from looking at a laptop too much! ]]>There were a few days when I didn’t leave the house or walk outside at ALL! How is that possible?! I’ll tell you how… REBRAND WEEK. It’s A LOT of work!! :) But it’s so worth it! Today we have coaching and we’ll spend our whole evening tweaking and finalizing everything for the launch tomorrow at 12pm EST!!! We’ll have a brand new, AMAZING website, a newly designed blog and a whole new look in general!!

The exciting news is that we’ll actually be sending out two waves of sneak peeks today!!!! One wave is via INSTAGRAM and I have some friends helping me with that one! And the second wave is through our NEWSLETTER!! Late tonight we’ll be sending our a preview to our Newsletter community so that everyone will receive it in the morning! If you want to make sure you get a copy in your inbox, you can SIGNUP HERE!!! Ps. I can’t say what it is….. but we’re doing a giveaway tomorrow… and lets just say this…. we’ve NEVER done anything like this before! Our newsletter friends will hear about it first!!!!

Ok, so today at 12pm the 24 hour count down begins! I’m nervous, excited and slightly freaking out!! I have so many people to thank and I can’t wait to show off their hard work tomorrow!! ahhhh!!!!

]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/tomorrow/feed/302015 WPPI GIVEAWAY!http://katelynjamesblog.com/wppi-2015-live-learning-experience/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/wppi-2015-live-learning-experience/#commentsThu, 15 Jan 2015 15:04:36 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=61630 It’s getting close to THAT time if the year again.... the time of the year that I start getting nervous... the time of the year when I think to myself "Why did I signup for this?!". It's almost WPPI season. We're speaking again this year and I'm SO honored to be asked back.... but this conference has a level of intensity that is unlike any other conference. It's one of the largest photography conferences in the WORLD. Photographers fly in from all over the globe to attend! New, old, young, part-time, full-time, portrait based, wedding based.... ]]>there are SO many photographers there with different stories and experiences. This is why I’m excited for my talk! I’ve realized over the last 7 years that no matter what your business strategy is, EVERY single photography business has to incorporate personal marketing into their marketing strategy in some way, shape or form. This is a PERSONAL service that we provide. We aren’t a image factory that just cranks out work without any relational representation!! We have actually found that the more PERSONAL we are in our marketing and our client experience, the better the OVERALL experience is for our clients. The more our community of brides gets to know us, the stronger our reputation is! The stronger our reputation is, the more valuable our services are. So basically, the more personal you are, the more value you’re adding to your brand! I always tell people during their coaching sessions “You have to add YOU into your brand! If someone took Michael and I out of the wedding package we offer, we could probably only charge $3200!” Michael and I ARE THE EXPERIENCE…. and the images are an amazing and necessary product of that experience.

So! If you want to increase the value of your experience… whether you’re in portraits or weddings… you HAVE to know how to insert your personality into your marketing while STILL being professional! This is HARD to do!!! It’s actually a “give and take” kind of situation. The more PROFESSIONAL you are, the more freedom you have to share fun, personal aspects of your life. For example, say I didn’t have a strong online presence. My blog was just a standard Blogger site without any customization. The colors don’t REALLY match my logo and the layout of the site was difficult to navigate. If I had an online presence like that and I blogged about loving Gummy Bears, I would be a joke to a lot of people. However, if I had a professional presence online, I would already be taken seriously that would give me more freedom in my personal marketing!

Finding the happy medium between personal and professional marketing is the greatest balancing act of this generation of photographers! So! That’s my topic for WPPI!!!!!

Dueling Identities: Ten Steps to Balancing Personal and Professional Marketing

This balance happens with online marketing but it ALSO happens on the wedding day with how we interact and treat our clients! ATTENTION: Things are about to get CRAZY!!!! Ok, continue……We realized it’s hard to give photographers a clear picture of what a REAL, LIVE WEDDING DAY looks like with us…… but we’re actually going to give someone at WPPI the opportunity to experience it!!! For FREE! Like, we’re paying for their flights, their lodging AND they are going to accompany us on a wedding day to experience the most raw type of training! They are going to watch and learn from us during a REAL wedding day and while that makes me a little nervous… I’m SO excited about this because we know this person is going to learn so much about the client experience, posing, timeline management, location scouting, shooting details, our OCF approach, how we run family formals, etc. etc!!! So, here’s the deal……

You can enter to win at ANY time leading up to our WPPI Platform talk that is taking place on SUNDAY MARCH 1st at 12pm in room 312-317!

Use the giveaway entry form below to enter! You can increase your entries up to 5x by sharing and posting about the giveaway!

YOU MUST BE PRESENT AT OUR WPPI PLATFORM TALK TO WIN! If we call your name out from the stage and you’re not there, it doesn’t matter if your BFF is there, you will be disqualified. You must be present to win!

Why share this like crazy with all of your WPPI buddies? Because if we reach 600 entries, we’re giving away TWO LIVE KJ LEARNING EXPERIENCES! That’s right, if you help us get 1,000 entries, we’re DOUBLING your chances to win!

What if you don’t win?! Well, the good news is that we’re giving away FIVE $250 GIFTCARDS to The Collection as well! We will pull names from this entry and so again, you must be present at our talk to win if your name is selected.

This is kind of crazy for us! It’s a BIG giveaway and we’re hoping that all of our WPPI friends will enter to win because we’d love to give you a FREE trip to Virginia AND a LIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCE at a REAL wedding!!!! Enter below! Sending good luck your way!!!a Rafflecopter giveaway

]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/wppi-2015-live-learning-experience/feed/9A Lesson From Georgehttp://katelynjamesblog.com/lesson-from-george-clooney/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/lesson-from-george-clooney/#commentsMon, 12 Jan 2015 17:17:11 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=61511 As we sat in the living room watching the Golden Globes, my attention drifted off into my laptop. Award shows are the best thing to watch while doing emails! You look up, see the pretty dresses and then continue cranking out the messages! Well, Michael told me that I needed to stop and pay attention to George Clooney's speech because it was supposed to be one of the best of the whole night. So I did. I stopped what I was doing and listened... I mean, it's not hard to stop working to look at George Clooney. ]]>Even now that he’s older, he’s still got that smile! I love George Clooney … but that’s not the point of this blog post. The point of this post is more about what George Clooney SAID. He got up in front of a whole room full of actors, actresses, producers, etc. and explained this. He said that award shows are always the same. You show up on cloud nine. You’re excited because you’ve been nominated and then two hours later, over 80% of the people in the room are immediately losers!! You go from being SO confident to being a LOSER in a matter of two hours! He admitted that it’s not the best feeling to lose but then he said something that stuck with me. He looked out at a room full of celebrities and he explained that really, there are no losers in that room. Everyone in that room is doing what they love. The fact that they are doing what fires them up and they are using their gifts means that they are living an extraordinary life….. they aren’t losing. Now I know there are a TON of celebrities that live empty, unfulfilling lives despite their money, fame and accomplishments. Ultimately, our true joy and satisfaction can only come from a relationship with Jesus. However, I still think there is a lesson here that can apply to the photography industry.

Now obviously, I know that we’re not all famous actors and actresses. However, I was reminded of a slight parallel in his speech that relates to our world. As I listened to George Clooney… one of the best actors of our time…say that “winning” isn’t really what it looks like, I thought about our industry. So often “winning” or “succeeding” is defined inaccurately. One of the common examples of this is when I hear photographers say “Well if you want to really make it, you have to teach one day!”. Welp, I have to say that I disagree whole heartedly.

Not everyone is a teacher… thank goodness for that!! Can you imagine how crazy our world would be if EVERYONE thought that they needed to TEACH someone something?! It would be unbearable! Not everyone was created to be an educator and that’s OK. It’s so important to realize this. I want the photography world to step back and really evaluate this. How did we get to a place where the ultimate “step” as a photographer was to host a workshop? That has just been the trend in the last few years.and while I’m a HUGE advocate for education… I don’t want anyone to think that they need to reach that level to “win”. Like George said, winning may not look like what you think it looks like. There is SO much more to aspire in our industry. Teaching for me is life-giving and encouraging but I didn’t become an educator and immediately felt “complete”…. like I had “arrived”. “Winning” in our industry can be defined in so many different ways and I just want to encourage photographers and any other creatives struggling with this to stop defining their steps by those that are a few steps ahead of them. There is such a FREEDOM in creating your own trajectory… and even greater freedom when you allow God to plan your steps!!

Happy Monday friends!

]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/lesson-from-george-clooney/feed/25The Best of Weddings 2014http://katelynjamesblog.com/best-of-weddings-virginia-wedding-photographer-2014/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/best-of-weddings-virginia-wedding-photographer-2014/#commentsMon, 29 Dec 2014 15:13:07 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=60981……they aren’t all perfectly composed….and they aren’t all tack sharp. I selected these images because they make me FEEL something when I look at them! Some of them make me feel something because I tried something NEW. Some of these shots made the cut because of the circumstances they were shot in! If I was working under a crazy time crunch and captured a gorgeous portrait in the midst of the chaos… that makes me proud! If I tried something new with details or Off Camera Flash…. that shot may be in this post! This post is a collection of my 2014 work that reminds me of why I love my job! I look at these images and I love them!! Some of you may think I need to do a humility check right about now but the truth is… I’m REALLY hard on myself when it comes to my work. Ask my husband. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows in the KJP world sometimes. I constantly criticize my work… sometimes I compare it to others… sometimes I talk myself into to believing that I’m not creative anymore…. UGH! I know these are lies! It’s just human nature to fall into these little traps. So at the end of the year, I do posts like this to remind myself that I’ve still got it!!!! :) I still LOVE wedding photography…. I still come up with unique shots and beautiful compositions…. I’m constantly getting better and better at finding the BEST light. I’m a good photographer. I love my career! I love my amazing couples!! After 6+ years, I can’t believe this is what I get to do for a living!! So just know that even though I say that I’m super proud of my work… that isn’t coming from a place of pure confidence. I struggle with that just like everyone else! :)

So know that you know way too much of my heart behind this post. I hope you enjoy some of the images of 2014 that make me fall in love with photography over and over again!!!! Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!

]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/best-of-weddings-virginia-wedding-photographer-2014/feed/25Our Real Lifehttp://katelynjamesblog.com/behind-the-scenes-2014/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/behind-the-scenes-2014/#commentsTue, 23 Dec 2014 18:25:34 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=60789We are so grateful for this year. As I scrolled through HUNDREDS of Behind the Scenes shots, I realized just how much FUN we have doing what we do. It’s an awesome privilege to be the ones beside a bride and groom all day capturing their day. What we loved most about Jasmine and JD on our wedding day was that they were so much fun to be around. They fit in with our families and our friends so well! So, Michael and I try to do that with our couples too!! When you have FUN with your photographers, it makes your images more genuine and joyful. Even in crunched timelines, freezing temperatures and tough locations, you can still have fun!! So take a look at what our job looks like on the OTHER SIDE! This is the REAL LIFE side of wedding photography!

PS! Our sweet friends Mike and Shaina just put together this quick little clip and we LOVE it!!!!! Thanks guys!!!!

Yikes! Don’t tell Hertz!!! Lisa is like “Uh Katelyn… I’m over here!” :)Double Teaming it! Yea John Powers! Making it happen at Big Spring Farm! My left leg isn’t broken… it’s just an extreme “leg pop”! Michael was REALLY excited about this first look! Meredith you’re a trooper! Love this girl! Shaina and Mike are amazing! Work it Tyler! “So this is how it’s going down Adam”… Awww love you Jen! Aw, that smile. I’m a lucky girl :) Yikes! I’m scary. Golden hour happiness! Hiding in the bushes! Loved working with Matt! “mmmmm hmmmm”Whoever owns this car… I’m sorry. We love Jarrett and Heather! I wish they weren’t on the other side of the country! One of Michael’s many jobs! Work it Shaina! Light testing! Bahaha!! Ryan had us laughing all day! Ya know, just pulled off on the side of a highway… I see one of Jeremy Mitchell’s legs! haha And something was evidently hilarious! Josh Gooden is the man!! Jeremy doing his thing!Loved this shot!! Michael…. aka, just another groomsmen. Go ahead… belt it out! (He can actually sing really well… he just never does it!) Bahaha!!! Aaron! Matt’s like “You want me to do WHAT?!”Sometimes Michael drives the props around! Loved this seattle wedding!Branch holding….Grandma thought Michael was hilarious! FIRE!!!!! I had some competition here! Lisa’s dad was so proud! :) His veil fluffing is just getting better and better! Love these two so much! Cutie! #frizzyhair Yep. No words for this one. So bossy. Love this!!! Quick break for a cute puppy pic:) The Mitchells! Killing it! Sometimes I decide to just do the first look myself… just kidding:) Last wedding of the year! Shooting with the 85mm totally made the cars disappear! Nice! Michael’s face…ha! There were two Michael’s on this wedding day… so funny! Thank you for making me look hilarious Chris! Yesssss “Ya know… just work it like you normally do Kaitlin!” :) I look so mean! I promise I’m nice:) Behind the scenes at HOME! :) Don’t mind me….. Test shots…. Michael didn’t know he was in this. :) From Florida to Philly! Ooops!! Walking through briars was a bad choice. And someone should have told me the photo op was BEHIND me! Guess what Tyler, you’re doing a first look with ME! Surprise!!!! Loved shooting this Maine wedding with the Herrintons! “You! over there!!!!”…. the last groomsmen totally didn’t respect my authority!! haha just kidding! Loved this group! heeheehee! They were in heels…. HEELS!!!!!! Amazing! So worth it too! AND she laid down?! What a dream! Mary, you’re the best! And evidently the funniest too:) Yea Clickspark!!! THIS is how the magic happens! View this FINAL photo here! EAST WEST doing their thing at Dan and Kathleen’s wedding! ha! And THIS is why I’m not a videographer! Oh YIKES!!!!!!! Thank you Carlyn for making me look like the funniest photog on the planet! Ha! Cool dude! Michael can make friends with ANYONE in a split second! Messiest e-shoot to date! The next two pictures couldn’t be more opposite…..RUNNNNNN!!!! Quiet on the set!!!! What’s wrong with my foot?? This was definitely against the rules. I was freaking out… about an airplane?? a bird?? No idea. “Guys! Not too much “man hug”!!!! whoa!!!” So glad the ESPN guy made the cut! Oh Ashley Herrinton! I just love you! She cries at every wedding and it’s so sweet:) Not cute katelyn, not cute. Work it Ash!!!Such a nerd…I was reallllllly excited about this shot!
]]>http://katelynjamesblog.com/behind-the-scenes-2014/feed/17A Tonic + KJ Giveawayhttp://katelynjamesblog.com/tonic-site-giveaway/
http://katelynjamesblog.com/tonic-site-giveaway/#commentsFri, 12 Dec 2014 13:16:23 +0000http://katelynjamesblog.com/?p=60636She’s so much fun and it’s an honor to call her a friend! I don’t know if I was more excited to build a new website or just hangout with her!! :) Bottom line, Jen is awesome and her work is absolutely amazing. Anyone that has a chance to work with her on a custom site is one lucky duck! The reality is that not EVERYONE can have a one-on-one Jen Olmstead experience. That’s just not possible. However, there is a way to have some of her beautiful work representing your business online and that is through the TONIC SITE SHOP! But wait…. it gets better! TONIC isn’t run by Jen alone, she has an incredible partner in crime who does equally jaw-dropping work and that’s JEFF SHIPLEY! (This is one of my FAVORITE sites he has done!) Together these two run an incredible business with the Tonic Site Shop! I absolutely love this little blurb from their site! It totally describes what they’re about and why this may be exactly what you need for your business to move forward! :

“There’s a sickness in the creative world. It’s insidious, easily diagnosed, and often referred to in hushed conversations between neon and chambray-clad tastemakers as “Boring Template Website Syndrome.” That’s right. Talented creatives everywhere, saddled with websites that fail to convey their brand’s personality and potential. It’s BTWS. It may not be catchy, but the yawns are. Fortunately, at TONIC SITE SHOP we’re here to help, and we’ve found the cure: entirely unique, completely customizable websites handcrafted for the modern, stylish creative. No listless, visually-deficient template symptoms in sight.”

So are you READY!? Are you ready to enter to win?! TONIC just recently launched a whole new set of amazing designs and they are stunning!! We have some sneak peeks below but if you want the full experience, you should visit their site!

These sites are ready to use and they are GORGEOUS! Imagine your images in some of their favorite designs below! Special shoutout to the “Mint Julep” design because they actually designed that style with me in mind!!! So sweet!!!